Our politicians love a PR opportunity to talk about their support for the queer community, but when the time comes to act, they hesitate again and again, writes Shaneel Lal. When I wake up every morning, I don’t look in the mirror and say, “oops, I’m trans, better fix that”. But in the summer of … Read more
After two unsuccessful petitions in 2019, Labour is finally promising to ban conversion therapy in the upcoming election. Sherry Zhang talks to Anna* about what conversion therapy was like and what a ban on its practise would mean. “It makes me want to cry. It makes me feel seen, like I’m not just making shit … Read more
What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart. AUCKLAND 1 Mophead by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press $25, 5+) Your newly-anointed Margaret Mahy Book of the Year; “perfect”, the judges said; freshly reviewed for us … Read more
As both negotiate the complexities of being part memorial, part protest and part celebration, an empathetic allegiance between Waitangi Day and the Auckland Pride Festival has the potential of collective empowerment, writes Richard Orjis. Waitangi Day falls in the middle of this year’s Auckland Pride Festival. Rather than being strange bedfellows in the summer cultural … Read more
UPDATED: Crusaders management has denied claims on social media that the touring players targeted a group with ‘homophobic slurs, limp wrists and high pitched voices’. Several members of The Crusaders rugby team have been accused of homophobia following an altercation with a group of young men in Cape Town, South Africa. The allegations, detailed on … Read more
From Destiny Church and Israel Folau, to splinter groups opposing the Anglican Church’s acceptance of same-sex marriages, bigotry against New Zealand’s LGBTQ community is still well and truly alive, writes Aaron Hendry. On Friday, Chester Borrows wrote a piece for the New Zealand Herald extolling the virtues of Destiny Church’s ‘Man Up’ – a support programme … Read more
If Israel Folau really wants to stay in Australian rugby union, he’s got a funny way of showing it, writes Scotty Stevenson. Oh, and Rugby Australia is being played. On Monday, the Australian rugby union player Israel Folau released what he described as a ‘context’ piece on his recent social media comments regarding homosexuals, and … Read more
In July The Spinoff published a story about a segment on RadioSport which we thought was homophobic. Miles Davis was cited within the story as an example of the broader homophobia within sport. Mr Davis complained to the Press Council about the matter, and the complaint was upheld. Today we publish in full the Press Council’s decision. … Read more